After leaving the Pagoda, where one of the shrines of the Sea Folk's faith was located, Minos said goodbye to the old man who had welcomed him in the first place and headed back the way he had come earlier.
His companions were still standing in the positions where they had stopped earlier, still under the pressure of the test in this area.
As he followed the three Sea Folk who would accompany him, two men and a woman, Minos didn't hesitate to help his companions by pushing them in the opposite direction so that they could escape the pressure on them.
With this move, Minos saw all of his traveling companions manage to escape their previous situation, heavily breathing as they felt relieved to have finally left their previous circumstances.
"Hah... Thanks for that, Minos." Emlyn commented while in her bestial form.
The three individuals who would follow Minos and his group from now on saw these companions of the human beside them, and one of them asked.
"Is this the group we're going to the North Sea with?"
The level 97 elder had only explained what they should and shouldn't do—everything else they would have to discuss with Minos to understand this mission.
Minos replied as he watched his group take regeneration pills. "No. We have a long journey ahead of us to assemble a team capable of going to that region.
From where we are, we'll travel through the Marine Empire to get the support of at least one or two local tribes. After that, we'll go to the Continent of Beasts, where I'll see what I can do with the nine-tailed foxes and the phoenixes.
But that's only the beginning of our journey. We won't go to the North Sea for another five to ten years."
When the Sea Folk heard this, they didn't think it was terrible, even though they would be out of their state for a 'long' time.
'At least he'll prepare a group strong enough to venture into that area...' One of them thought, considering that they certainly couldn't go there with beasts of Emlyn's level, but aware that the journey Minos planned might bring several new specialists into the group.
They were brave and powerful, but they didn't want to go to the North Sea with a group of weaklings who wouldn't support them. You could only venture out in that dangerous place if you had a strong group!
"I know some tribes in the underwater part of the empire that might have fearless members interested in joining our crusade." The level 91 woman told Minos.
As dangerous as it was, there were beings who would be interested in journeys like the one Minos wanted to follow. This was especially true at the beginning of his journey, which would take him through many powerful places normally of interest to lower-level 'young' Demigods.
As powerful as some beings were, seeing beings below level 90 exploring places far from their home was unusual.
Few Sages from the Central Continent knew about the other continents and the most powerful islands in the world. The same was true for the members of the aquatic and terrestrial beast tribes, who would typically only explore the world near the peak of their cultivation.
In a way, the beginning of the 10th stage was the ideal time to explore this glorious world in search of new opportunities.
It became more difficult to progress at this stage, and it forced the world's strongest people to search for new and different opportunities. At this point, most of them wouldn't have much to improve upon, and they would finally have some time to actually live.
Considering the characteristics of some of the groups of beings this woman knew, she was sure Minos would gain support on his journey.
"Oh? Then, I ask you to lead the way. I promise to support those who travel with me and risk their lives on adventures with us." Minos said, pleased to see that someone from the group was already volunteering to lead the way.
"Who do you have in mind, Maryam?" One of the two level 90 men asked.
The other asked. "Are you thinking of visiting the Arctic Whale Tribe?"
There were several races of whales in the Spiritual World, but they were all quite strong, considering their massive bodies. The Sky Whale Tribe was the most famous and powerful, but the others were not insignificant.
"We can go there. But before that, I wanted to visit the Mermaid Tribe and the Kraken Tribe. These two races have excellent characteristics for our adventure to the North Sea." She explained, catching Minos' attention.
"Mermaids, huh?" Minos muttered, remembering the characteristics of these half-human, half-fish sea creatures.
Mermaids were very powerful and had strong mental manipulation abilities. On top of that, they were among the three fastest underwater races when it came to swimming and had practically perfect sensory abilities.
It was said that a mermaid could only be found or captured if they wanted to be!
As for Kraken, they were sea monsters of terrifying power, among the strongest beings in the Spiritual World when it came to fighting on the high seas and against large groups of enemies.
A single Kraken could fight more than a dozen crews or warriors of its own level!
Both races were extreme, and their members were very self-confident. Many loved to fight and were often just waiting for trouble to let them show some of their powers.
Maryam had these two tribes in mind because of these characteristics and how fearless their members were.
"Krakens and mermaids... They're more suitable than arctic whales." One of the two Sea Folk said, agreeing with their group leader's suggestion.
They soon decided to search for the mermaids first since they were closest to them, following the path they would have to take to reach the Continent of Beasts.
As soon as Minos' group had finished restoring their energy, they gathered together, introduced themselves, and set off to return to the coast of that great island.
This time, they were going to a different place, where the Sea Folk group had a boat they would use for their next journey.
So Minos' journey in this state began well, and soon, he would travel through the underwater world after years since his first experience of the deep sea.
